A temporary storage system includes a travel rail having first rails and second rails, the first rails and the second rails being disposed in a grid pattern on a same plane and disposed to surround a transfer port for receiving an article in a two-dimensional view; a vehicle having a travel part and a transfer part including an elevator; and storages each configured to store the article, in which the travel rail is disposed such that the vehicle is accessible to a stop position where the transfer part is disposed immediately above the transfer port from a side with the storage for the transfer port and the vehicle is accessible to another stop position where the transfer part is disposed immediately above the storage.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A temporary storage system comprising: a travel rail having a plurality of first rails extending linearly in a first direction and a plurality of second rails extending in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, the first rails and the second rails being disposed in a grid pattern on a same plane and disposed to surround a transfer port configured to receive an article when viewed from above the same plane; a vehicle having a travel part configured to travel on the travel rail in the first direction and the second direction and a transfer part including a holder configured to hold the article and an elevator configured to elevate and lower the holder; and a plurality of storages each configured to store the article, wherein the travel rail is disposed such that the vehicle is accessible to a first stop position where the transfer part is disposed immediately above the transfer port from a side with the storage for the transfer port and the vehicle is accessible to a second stop position where the transfer part is disposed immediately above the storage, the vehicle travels on the travel rail with the transfer part positioned below the travel rail, the plurality of storages are supported by the travel rail to be suspended therefrom, the transfer part has a turntable configured to rotate the elevator, the vehicle comprises a switching part that enables wheels to move relative to the travel part, and the switching part is configured to switch between a state in which the wheels are aligned in the first direction and a state in which the wheels are aligned in the second direction.
2. The temporary storage system according to claim 1 , wherein the transfer part has a movable part configured to advance and retract the elevator in a direction parallel to a plane along the first direction and the second direction, and the vehicle advances the movable part to convey the article to the transfer port.
3. The temporary storage system according to claim 1 , wherein the travel rail is provided with a detection target at a stop position of the vehicle for the transfer port, the vehicle includes a detector configured to detect the detection target, and the travel part stops the vehicle at the stop position, based on a result of detection by the detector.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
January 24, 2017
February 9, 2021
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